Congas - Latin Percussion Drumming Instruments

The most popular of the Latin Percussion drumming instruments are the Congas and Bongos. One of the common American dance forms that is based on Latin American rhythms is Salsa. Salsa has registered a steady growth and now dominates the airwaves in many countries in Latin America and other countries throughout the world.

These instruments have their roots from Cuba. Although, there is a theory that it can be traced back all the way to Africa. They are usually played with bare hands without any sticks and are also known as hand drums. However, it can also be played with sticks or Mallets.

The drum is usually made of wood and the drumhead used to be traditionally made of animal skin that is heated and well beaten. However in modern times, synthetic materials are used for drumheads, which can get the same sound tone.

Conga Drums are played in sets of two to four with the hands – usually the fingers and the palm. The basic strokes of congas are open tone, bass tone, muffed tone, slap and touch.

Congas have many manufacturers like LP, Meinl, Gon Bops, Remo, Toca and Tycoon. The more preferred and popular ones are LP Congas and Gon Bops Congas. You can purchase them from a retail drum shop like California Percussion LLC.

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Ben The Drummer's First Drum Cover

Hey guy, how are you doing? This post just came out from the blue and it's not on My List Of Things To Update. I'm very excited to inform you that I just had my first drum cover up on YouTube!

I was not aware that my friend - Alan would upload this recording of me playing during the praise & worship for the youth service in my church. After seeing him recording me, I was thinking "Great, now I get to see myself playing on the drums!" What I only knew was that he was just testing out some stuff. At around 1am that night (14/2/09), BAMM! I see my video clip up on YouTube and it was on his blog. I was shocked at first, but it was nice seeing myself playing. =)

Actually this is not the first time I see myself playing on the drums, but this is the first time it's recorded with a video cam, not a crappy video cam from the handphone.

A few months back at September before we had our last I.G.NITE! for the year 2008, I planned to record the whole praise & worship session, but too bad, until the last minute we could not find a video cam to record it. By the way it was also the bands' guitarists' last time playing with the band because he leaving for US to further his studies. I was really disappointed and it was a waste because the music for that night was awesome!! I had never played at that level before and the band was really on form and on fire for God. I was really sad as well because that was the last time playing with Ivan.

Okay, back to the video. The title of the song is - 'Til I See You from Hillsong United.

I have to say in the beginning, I was a bit blur because I forgot that I was suppose to start. My bad. Oh yea the tempo sped up a bit before going into the 2nd verse. And way back almost at the end of the song I made a mistake. I don't know why for one part Alan record my K-Swiss shoes. Hahaha... Check it out for yourself!



I hope you enjoyed watching it. So what do you think about my first drum cover? Does it suck or was it just so so, average or very good?

I need a favor from you guys to go over to my video on Youtube to leave you comments and rank the video as well or you can also leave your comments on my blog. Why not do both. I'll really appreciate your comments and feedbacks.

Oh yea I almost forgot to show you guys a few comments that was left on Alan's blog.

(Click to enlarge)

Hope you enjoyed this post and the video.

P/S. Don't forget to go over to my youtube video to leave you comments and rank the video as well or leave your comments on my blog. You can do both if you want to. All comments and feedbacks are very much appreciated. It can either be good or bad I don't mind. I just wanna have some feedback from you.

Thanks and have a nice day ahead of you.

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Chris Tomlin's Songs

After the Passion World Tour concert which was at held at Kuala Lumpur, there's this few songs that is still stuck in my mind and it's really nice and touching.

You can read regarding the Passion World Tour concert again here.

I just want to share them with you.

Indescribable by Chris Tomlin

Here is the drum cover for this song for those that are interested. =)

Holy is the Lord by Chris Tomlin

In this video you'll get to know how was the song written.

Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) by Chris Tomlin

In this video shows how Chris Tomlin's new rendition of the classic hymn, Amazing Grace.



Hope you enjoyed listening to the songs by Chris Tomlin.


Take care & God Bless you !!

- Ben The Drummer

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Dixon Drums Presents "Drum Your Way To Hollywood" Contest

A few days ago I was contacted by Violet from Heavybag Media.

This was the E-mail she sent me:

Hi Ben,
Happy belated birthday!
My name is Violet. I work with Heavybag Media in Los Angeles and we work with Dixon Drums. I thought since you occasionally write about drums and music, that you or your U.S readers might be interested in a contest they launched over the weekend.

Here's how it works:
1. Visit your local Dixon retailer (click here for a list of dealers).
2. Have a friend film you playing your best 2-minute drum solo on the DEMON kit.
3. Upload it to http://youtube.com/group/DixonDrumsContest and share your link with friends who will vote for you!

The public will vote to decide the top 6 entries to be submitted to an A

She contacted me because Dixon Drums is having this "Drum Your Way To Hollywood" Contest.

This contest is only opened to the U.S right now, so you readers from the U.S you are welcomed to join the Dixon Drums Contest.

Here is a short video for this contest. Check it out...

For more info, click the image below

What are you U.S readers waiting for? Go and register for the contest now!


See Ya & God Bless !!

- Ben The Drummer

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Busy Playing Schedule

Have been playing drums for church services more often compared to the previous years. Almost every week sure have people ask me to take over this service or that. Tired one you know. haha

As I was typing away, I just received a sms for the songs for this coming Tuesday Bible Study. Great... here goes again, but after this Tuesday then won't be playing till next Saturday. At least get to rest. Don't tell me along the week comes another person asking me to take their place. LoL

What to do, I still enjoy playing. =)

Just tuned my snare drum during yesterdays morning practice and I still can't get it to the sound I like. Damn it !! Hopefully can tune it back to my preferred sound soon.

I feel that for me, I'll play better when my snare is in tune. I don't know why, but thats me ok. I don't think it applies to any other drummers. What I can say is drummers will always enjoy playing a well tuned drum. What say you??

OK... here some snapshots of my previous months playing schedule:
- Dark Green is playing
- Light Green is practices

March 2008

April 2008

May 2008

I know some of you also know how it feels serving almost every week. I call this - playing the MARATHON.

I'm not sure you guys remembered me mentioning there is one time I had to play for 8 Sunday services straight. You can read it again HERE. =)

Thats all I have to say for now and Happy Mothers Day !!!


P.S: Just shoot me some Comments if you have something to say.


See Ya & God Bless

- Ben The Drummer

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HELP!!! I'm Having Songs Overload!!!

Sorry guys for not updating this blog for some time.

I will not disappoint you guys for the coming days because I've some really interesting topics and stuffs to share with you all, so do come back to check for my updates.

As you're read my title "HELP!!! I'm Having Songs Overload!!!", I'm really am being overloaded with songs in my head. This is because this Saturday is I.G.NITE! and I've been learning 7 songs within 2 weeks.

Normally I'll just roughly get the drum beats and just play my own way for any new songs, but for this time special a bit ma, it's I.G.NITE!, so I planned to learned up the songs almost exactly the way the songs are played. By the way I wont play 100% the same as of the disc la but can be very close to 100% already la. What you expect ??

So ended up for the past 2 weeks I was busy with my work and busy with learning the new songs that's why didn't really update my blog.

So how do I feel when I'm having songs overload ?? It feels like my brain is going to blow up and can't take in anymore new songs because can't go in already. LOL

Let me put "songs overload" into a perspective for you.

Let's say you're of average height and weight for your age.(growing up stage)

Suddenly you decided to eat everything you possibly can. Why? Because you were afraid of missing some important nutrient in your diet.

So you indiscriminately decided to eat everything you could lay your hands on "just in case" there was some nutrient in there that could help make you healthier.

So that's the same case la so after this I.G.NITE!, I'll be going on a "Songs Diet". to rest my brain... LOL

I'm taking in WAY TOO MUCH information and I'm OVERLOADING. It's just like when you eat too much you GAIN "WEIGHT".

So do you understand how do I feel now or how does it feel to be in this situation.

This is all I have to say for now... I wan't to go and sleep already because tomorrow morning have practice again at 9 a.m so see you guys tomorrow during I.G.NITE.


P.S: If you guys have been in this kind of situation before, feel free to let me know what was your reaction to it or anything la regarding this post. =)


See Ya & God Bless !!

- Ben The Drummer

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Taking A Rest

Hey guys, today I'll take a rest on the computer memory posts.

Happens that some people like it and some doesn't. HAHA....so what say you ??

What an intro that Jim (Joo Tatt) did for me on his blog at tattx-bottledstories.blogspot.com. Lol...can't blame him for doing so because he's always like this la. But thanks anyway for spreading my blog.

The first Ignite for 2008 is coming and I'm still like out of form to play. MAN !! I seriously need some prayer. Have been playing non stop for quite a while already. The record for me playing non-stop is for 2 straight months. Just imagine playing for Sun Service for 2 months but different services la. And I still didn't count those time playing for bible study, prayer meeting and for Ignite Service yet.

What's amazing part is one of the church member came to me and say "Wah you're playing tomorrow again ar ?" when i was practicing. Haha... Even church member noticed I have been playing for so many weeks. Just imagine Pastor Marcus will be thinking in his head "Why is this guy playing on Sun non-stop for the different services?"

Hey, by the way I'm not complaining la but people do get dry one k. Sometimes we need to refill also one ma right.

It's time for us to train up more new musicians because we are really lacking of musicians. It's so obvious that the generations after us is like totally no new musicians except for the girls lo. What happened to the guys !!?? Wake up Man !! It's time to rise up and and to serve God.

Soon I'll be having drum lessons for those that are interested. So those that are interested come give me your names. Details will be given to you soon but I'm planning to train those that already know how to play drums. A separate class for those that are new to drums will be open also, but I have to arrange the time for it. So fear not. =) Btw, it's very taxing one, because I do have my own things to do and I'm not the very free type of person one k.

So this is the end of my rantings. Did anyone closed the page before finishing it?? LOL....if you've had closed the page you wont be reading this part of my post already right. HAHA

P.S: Before you go, can you guys write in my comment box to let me know what you think about the Computer posts ok. =)

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My DRUM History

In this post I will be bringing you back to my past and how it all started out for me as A DRUMMER.

It all started out as a young boys dream to be a drummer and to be playing DRUMS... it was quite a challenging journey but i enjoyed it.

I took my first drum lesson during 2001 and my instructor was - Mr. Lam (Randall Lam). He used to play on the cruise and he himself was mentored by a Filipino teacher. In my opinion, Filipino musicians are amazing!!

The first lessons was like as usual... introducing the drum kit, teaching you how to hold the drum sticks, how to position yourself and the other basic stuffs when you go for your first drum lesson. =)

Mr. Lam was not the technical type of teacher but he taught me how to play along with the song and blend in with other band members. He was also a very good teacher and i was very comfortable learning from him. During his free time he would bring me to meet some of his other musician friends as well and I went for two public performance as well. Both was in a shopping mall.

The first time performing in front of live audiences was fun but nerve wrecking as well. The performance went on smoothly and it was great. BUT... for the second time performing, I was very nervous because of the big crowd. I ended up playing faster then the song and after the performance Mr. Lam asked me what went wrong and i gave him quite a LAME excuse - i answered "I don't know... it was the music that was slow not me". =)... After I recall back, it's true also k because the place was quite big and had some echo so ended up the music played out from the speakers was like a few milliseconds slower.

So I continued to take lessons with him for almost 3 years + until he had some personal matters to attend to and was constantly cancelling lessons because he was not around. Finally he decided to stop my lesson and he as well stopped teaching at the music school.

So for more then 2 to 3 months I went on playing on my own without a teacher... until I came across a friend of Mr. Lam - David (Ah Phong)... which was a drum instructor as well. So I arrange a time with him to start my lessons as soon as possible and he became my second teacher. By the way, David was also mentored by a Filipino teacher if I'm not mistaken. =)

During that time I was eagerly waiting to start my first lesson with him, but once my first lesson started... I struggled with his teaching style. As I had said earlier, my first instructor was not the technical type... so being taught by him for around 3 years, I ended up not being the technical type of player as well. hahaha

So under the guidance of David was very tough because he stresses more towards playing techniques rather then playing well only. During the first few lessons with David was like relearning how to play the drums - I had to erase my "old" playing techniques and habits... and START learning the new playing techniques from David.

It took me around 1 month to get used to the new playing techniques and I could see the difference and improvements in my playing as well - my playing speed increased as well because of the new techniques. Hooray!!!

Under David's guidance, I have mastered the new playing techniques - hand playing technique, the pedal technique, double pedal technique and a lot of other techniques. Sad to say is that I've not yet mastered all of the techniques David tough me because I was quite busy with my sports and all the competition that was going on, so there was not much time for me to practice. =)

David also tough me to play a lot of different kinds of music rather then playing medium rock and rock musics. He taught me to play Jazz musics - Samba, Bossa Nova, and a few more other kinds of Jazz music. It was not that easy to play this musics so I didn't really go and practice them which i have regretted now. =)... So guys, don't be LAZY and go practice what you've just learned if you want to improve your drums!

I stopped taking lessons from David around the mid of 2005 because I have not much time left for my studies. It was my final year at secondary school and I had my SPM (governments exam) coming up and I have not really studied. So I stoped taking lessons from David.

So to summarized my story, I took DRUM lessons for about 4 1/2 years and I had been playing drums on my own since then for around 2 1/2 years - that makes me playing Drums for 7 years. =)

Sometimes I feel quite embarrassed when I see drummers playings way better then me by using such a short time. BUT... I'm not going to give up so easily but I'll keep on practising and improve the talents GOD has blessed me be the best drummer I can be.=)


P.S: So guys - If you think that this post is interesting, do leave your Comment after you've read. =)

See Ya & God Bless !!

- Ben The Drummer

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More About Me

Before I start blogging, let me introduce myself first. My name is Benjamin Tan a.k.a Ben The Drummer, living in a small island in Malaysia and I'm 20 this year (2008). By the way if you do not know where Malaysia is, click HERE.

I was born into a family of 5 - with an elder sister and an elder brother, so that makes me the youngest in the family. Being born into a family of musicians is... quite interesting and being exposed to music at a young age.

My dad is a so called singer and my mom plays the piano... she's also a piano teacher.

My sister plays the piano, violin, and flute marimba. She currently resides in Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. For more info of her works, you can go over to AlvinaTan.com. As for my brother he plays the clarinet and the cello.

For myself, I play the DRUMS, guitar, and some singing. Yea I know some of you may be asking "isn't your mom a piano teacher? don't cha know how to play the piano?" HAHAHA... I've heard this sentence almost a MILLION times until I can guess what's the person going to say after asking me what music instruments do I play. LOL

Actually I enjoy playing the piano too but I'm not the kind of person that can sit down quietly playing and practicing. I'm the more Hyper Active type compared to my siblings, so my mom started to send me for drum lessons when I was 13.

I enjoyed my first lessons and I was saying in my mind "finally I got to play drums man, YEAH !" It was a dream come true for me because when I was young, I admired those drummers playing in church and I wanted to play drums as well.

So up till now, I have been playing drums for almost 8 years and I'm now playing in my church main service and the youth service. I also enjoy teaching others as well because in the same time I can improve on my playing.

Now to my Hyper Hyper side. I was involve in a lot of sports during my younger days until injury striked... both my hamstring ligaments was torn and I could not walk properly. Luckily both did not tear at the same time but it tore a week after the other.

During that time I though it was only some muscle pull and I did not do much about it and it recovered slowly. Soon after recovering, I tore my hamstrings again and this time it was serious - I heard a loud "POP"... straight away I knew I had torn my legs muscle again.

After consulting a doctor, I was asked to rest for 3 MONTHS and No sports!! No way man... off I go again after only 2 months =)... Luckily my hamstrings didn't burst again.

So after saying so much about the injury thing, those of you that do not know me will be wondering "what sports does this guy play?"...

Here is the list of sports I'm involve in and when I was involve in:

1. Badminton- Age 4 - 14... Represented School
2. Basketball- Age 8 - Now... Represented Country to JAPAN and won =)
3. Table Tennis- Age 8 - Now... Represented State
4. Athletics- Age 9 - 12... Represented School

Below is a picture of some of my medals.


By the way guys, this picture is not to show off ok. HAHA

So I still have not said which sports caused me to have my hamstring injury right?? It was during my basketball training. Had training 4 times a week and it happened when I was 14.

So you guys out there - always remember to warm up and do some stretching before any sports!... if not you might get injured as well. You wouldn't want to have any injuries right? So enjoy your game.

This is all I have to share about myself.

Check out other post about Ben The Drummer.


See Ya & God Bless !!

- Ben The Drummer

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